The Year Apart
by malteselover
Summary: Hermione is going back to Hogwarts, Harry is going to Auror training, and Ron is helping Fred with the shop. This being the first year that the three of them have been apart, its safe to say that things would most definitely not be the same...


"Oh come on, don't you want to say you finished school

"Oh come on, don't you want to say you finished school?"

"Hermione, we've all done more than we would ever learn about in _school_!"

Hermione, Ron, and Harry were sitting in Ron's bedroom in the Burrow. The early afternoon sun shone brightly through the window, casting its beams of light onto the closed wooden door directly across from it. Hermione sat cross-legged on the floor, while Ron lay on his bed, staring at one of the many Chudley Cannon posters that plastered his ceiling. Harry, who sat on the edge of the bed, sighed, knowing that they were about to be launched into the same argument they had been having all summer long.

"Hermione, you could get any job you wanted right now! Why do you need to go back?" Ron said, rolling over so that he now rested on his side.

"Because it wouldn't feel right! I want to finish and take exams! Getting a job just based on the things we did this year just doesn't seem like enough," Hermione said, trying to make the two of them see it her way. This, however, wasn't enough.

"Hermione, didn't you learn anything after Umbridge and all?" Ron said, now shifting into a sitting position, "It's not about what you learned in books! It's all practical experience! And we've gotten plenty of that! Right Harry…. Harry?" Ron repeated, waiting for an agreement.

"Um, yeah…sure…practical experience," Harry mumbled distractedly. He had already phased out the argument, and was no longer paying very much attention.

"Well, maybe if you want to be an Auror! But that's not what I want to do! Ron, at least you should go back, you're not going to Auror training with Harry!" Hermione shot at him, hoping vainly that this argument would be enough to sway him.

"I've already told you, I have to help George with the shop!" Ron's voice faltered a little as he said this. This caused both him and Hermione to fall into a temporary silence. A moment later, Hermione said, much more gently than before…

"I'm sure he'll be fine on his own."

"No he won't, Hermione. You've seen how he is this summer. He hasn't been right at all. He wasn't going to even reopen the shop! He needs me there," Ron said, his voice cracking very slightly as he said it.

"Well…if you're sure," Hermione said softly, not wanting to press such a sensitive subject further. By the way she said it, Harry knew that Ron had won the argument, at least this time. "Um, I'm going to pack the books your mum picked up in Diagon Alley for me." With that, she stood up, and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

"Hey, Harry, are you all right?" Ron asked, now focusing his attention on Harry. It took a few moments for Harry to realize that Ron was talking to him.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Harry said, his voice saying the exact opposite.

"You sure?" Ron asked, still unconvinced.

"I'm fine," Harry said, slightly irked. He was sick of people asking him whether he was okay or not.

"Okay…whatever you say," Ron sounded no more convinced than before, but decided to drop the question.

Harry thought for a moment, not liking the awkward silence he was sitting in. Then, he said, "So, you're definitely not going to Auror training?"

"I told you…the joke shop…George," Ron's voice became more indistinct with each word.

Kingsley had stopped by at the beginning of July to offer Harry, Ron, and Hermione positions in the Auror training program. He had said that seeing as they were finished with school, and had the amount of experience with the Dark Arts that they did, that the Ministry could overlook the fact that the three of them had not taken there N.E.W.T.S. Hermione had immediately declined, saying that she had no interest in it. Harry, on the other hand, had immediately agreed, as this was the one profession he had ever wanted in the wizarding world. Ron had become very excited, but had turned the offer down, much to the surprise of everyone, including Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.

"Why not? I thought this is what you wanted." Mrs. Weasley had asked, not understanding what would cause him to turn down such an impressive job offer.

"Oh, you know…George needs help if he wants to reopen the shop," Ron had said. He had tried to make it sound casual and offhanded, but Harry knew that the decision wasn't as easy for Ron as he made it out to be.

"You don't seem all that excited," Harry said, turning back to Ron. He had been hoping that Ron would change his mind over the course of the summer. While he had always looked forward to starting his career as an Auror, he had never thought that he would have to do it alone.

"No…it's just something I have to do. Family should come first and all…" Ron turned his attention away from Harry and toward the window. Harry looked out of the window as well, and could make out what looked like Crookshanks, prowling around the Weasley's garden, waiting to chase and unwary gnome.

It was a while before either of them spoke. Harry began to fiddle with the lace of his sneakers, while Ron continued to stare out of the window. There was something on Harry's mind, something he had been thinking about ever since Kingsley had stopped by. He had been afraid to bring it up before hand, and was even afraid to bring it up now. Because he wasn't sure how Ron and Hermione would respond. All though, by the way they had each acted throughout the summer, he had a vague idea of how they would take it. This only caused him to keep his thought to himself even longer. But he felt, seeing as September 1st was next week, that he should say it. He took a deep breath, and, breaking the silence said…

"You know, this is going to be our first year apart since we all met." Harry said this, rather glad that he had finally gotten this off his chest.

"Yeah, I was thinking about that. It will be kind of weird. But it shouldn't be so bad. I mean, we can still write, and there will be the holidays. And you and I will see each other on weekends and stuff," Ron said, trying to sound hopeful.

"I know. But still, it's going to be really weird." Harry had been dead set on this since the thought came into his head. It was going to be a big change, and he really did not want one now. Not with all that happened. Not after last year. He'd had experienced changes that he had never wanted to.

"I thought you'd get sick of me and Hermione after all of last year, being with us all day everyday," Ron said, grinning a little.

"I'm still going to miss you and her though. We've been through so much together, and now we are going different ways," Harry said, sighing a little. He didn't mean to sound so unhappy, but it was true. The first ride on the Hogwarts express…the troll, those things seemed to have happened an eternity ago. It was difficult for Harry to remember a time when he didn't have Ron and Hermione to talk to. Sure, there had been weeks in the summer might as well have been ten years in comparison.

"Hey," said Ron, trying to lighten the gloomy atmosphere that had descended on the room, "let's go play a pick-up game of Quidditch. I'll see if Ginny and George will play."

"Okay," Harry said, and he stood up. While his mood was slightly lighter with the thought of a Quidditch match, he still couldn't shake the thought from his head.

Things were definitely not going to be the same.

* * *

**A/N: **Okay, this is how the story will work. This chapter is the "overview" chapter, where the perspective is on the entire trio at once. The next chapter will follow Hermione specifically. Then there will be a chapter following Ron, and then following Harry. Chapters coming after that are still in the planning process. Anyway, I'm so excited about this story. I came up with it on a bus ride. My inspiration is the song "Seven Days of Lonely," by I Nine. Great song. Anyway, read and review! My next chapter is on its way!


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